Oni and Rasetsu
by Linmeihua
Summary: This is a translation of my story Oni et Rasetsu. Yûna, a Western Oni, travels to Japan to join the Shinsengumi for mysterious reasons. She shows a strong interest for Sannan's research on the Ochimizu. It seems that only the secretary-general will be able to uncover her real motives. Comments are very welcome!
1. The Nishi Honga-ji

**This story is a translation of** _ **Oni et Rasetsu**_ **. English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize for any mistakes I might have done. Please let me know if you spot any mistake or if you have a suggestion on how I could improve my style, or simply or simply to tell me whether you liked this story. Enjoy!**

On a summer morning of spring 1865, a young and fair-skinned woman was walking at a slow but determined pace across the Japanese countryside. As she was passing by, workers from the rice fields gave her suspicious looks. Although her clothes were made of the best Japanese fabric available, their European cut was surprising to the people she met on her way. Indeed, she was dressed as a man. Where she was from, her green and black jacket, her white shirt and dark trousers could not have been deemed appropriate for a woman either. Yet, this unusual traveller did not seem to care about the suspicion of the Japanese people towards Gaijin in these troubled times. Her only luggage was a leather bag and a naginata.

The closer she got to Kyoto, her look grew more grave. When the wall protecting the city appeared in the distance, she stopped, and put on a haori on top of her clothes. After adjusting her conic hat to protect her from the sun – and from being seen -, she continued her progression towards the city she had seen so many times in her dreams.

Several carts and kago came and went through the wide entrances of the city. The traveller decided to enter Kyoto via one of the secondary entrances instead. After walking through the red doors guarded by stone sculptures of some deity or demon unknown to her, she was stunned by the beauty of the delicate architecture of the capital. She sighed and a shadow of sadness darkened her eyes. As she was standing a few metres away from the doors, she heard someone screaming at her.

"You there!" yelled one of the guards.

She stopped and turned around to face the man. He was looking at her with a look of disdain and mistrust upon his face. Most people would have been scared of him, but Yûna only felt annoyed at being so violently interrupted in her thoughts.

"Where are you from? What are you doing in Kyoto?" said the man in a threatening way.

The young woman saw two other guards stepping closer to the first one. She decided to simply answer:

"My name is Yûna. I came to Kyoto to pray at the Kiyomizu-dera temple".

"The temple of Kiyomizu-dera eh? And why would a stranger come to Kyoto to pray… while carrying a weapon?"

"Well sir, streets are not always safe, especially for a woman travelling on her own. Even the most pious souls have to protect themselves. However, if you doubt my intentions, you are more than welcome to keep my naginata with you. I will only stay here for a day or two at most. Why don't you hold on to it until I come back to claim it and leave? I rest assured I can entrust you with it, and that once within these walls I shall not fear anything anymore… Thanks to you and your companions". As she was pronouncing these last words, she smiled at the soldiers and gave them her spear.

The three men looked at each other for a second, trying to decide silently what to do with this foreigner. It did not take long for them to decide that this charming young lady would probably not cause them any trouble. The first guard took the naginata.

"Very well. Move along!"

After Yûna disappeared from his sight, the guard examined the blade. He was wondering how such a beautiful object came to be owned by a stranger. He had rarely seen a weapon made with such skill. His doubts, which had vanished upon seeing Yûna's smile, came back almost immediately. He promised himself he would keep an eye on her. He put the naginata on a box behind him, and the two other soldiers returned to their patrol. The first soldier suddenly had the strange feeling that someone or something was behind him. He turned around but didn't see anyone. However, the naginata was gone. He called:

"Guards! Guards! Search Kyoto! Find the foreign woman!"

His first intuition that this strange person wasn't in Kyoto to pray found itself confirmed. While another one would have found useless to worry about the actions of a woman along in a city unknown to her, he felt he had to arrest her as soon as possible. However this was but a lost cause. A few streets away from there, hidden behind a cart, Yûna was observing the guards leaving in the wrong direction. She raised her eyes towards the roofs and filled her lungs with fresh air.

"Kyoto…"

She started walking along the walls, trying to find her way across the labyrinth of the streets of the capital. She was taking note of every single detail of the configuration of the city, creating a mental map of Kyoto. After what seemed to her like hours, she spotted a tall and elegant building.

"There we are. The Nishi Hongan-ji, the Shinsengumi's general quarters."


	2. Saitou Hajime

Yûna had been obsessed by the Shinsengumi, this infamous police force nicknamed the wolves of Mibu for many year. Of course, she knew she did not stand a chance to be recruited the way most soldiers do. A cunning smile crossed her face. Hidden in the shade, she waited for dusk to reach carefully one of the roofs of the temple. She jumped from one roof to the next, before reaching one of the interior courtyards. She walked to the centre of the courtyard, kneeled down, and placed her weapon by her side in such a way it could not be reached to attack, blade behind her. She hoped she would not be mistaken for an enemy.

As she expected, one of the guards wearing the blue haori of the Shinsengumi noticed her presence. Yûna noticed he was carrying his katana on his right side, and guessed immediately his identity.

"Who's there?" asked the man.

"Someone who wants to serve the Shinsengumi, answered Yûna, who was still kneeled on the ground.

In just one second, the man crossed the distance separating them and drew his katana. The woman felt the cold blade a couple of inches under her throat. She could see a glare in the ice-cold blue eyes of the man.

"The Shinsengumi is not hiring new recruits. Especially not those who break in our headquarters."

"I understand, she replied him. Forgive me. I have been tracked by certain… enemies of the Shinsengumi for weeks now, and I would rather not reveal my presence here in daytime. Please allow me to meet one of your commanders, Isami Kondou, Hijikata Toshizo or Sannan Keisuke. I will explain my motives for being here, and I have my reasons to think they could convince them.

"Who sends you? Are you working for the Choshou clan?"

Yûna understood she had made a mistake. She had just shown him she knew too much about them, and she was a foreign woman no one knew here. How could she be any more suspicious? The blade of the katana got dangerously closer to her jugular.

"I apologize, I did not introduce myself properly. My name is Yûna, and I do not work for the Choshou clan, or anyone else. I came from far away to find you, on my own, and I am here more precisely to talk to Sannan Keisuke."

She saw in his eyes she had just made her second mistake of the evening. She quickly tried to rectify her words:

"We share the same cause. Let's join our forces. You lost a lot of men lately, few people in Kyoto are interested in joining the Shinsengumi, and…"

He did not let her finish. She felt his grip on her arm grow tighter, but before he slit her throat open, she had reached for her naginata, and holding it backwards, used its handle to block Saito's attack and push him away with such strength that he fell on the ground.

She stepped towards him:

"I do not wish to fight you, I am only her to help. We shall meet again, Captain Saito Hajime."

Upon hearing the sound of their altercation, several officers rushed out of their bedrooms, but they arrived too late. Jumping on a roof, Yûna vanished in the dark.

Saito stood up, wondering how the young woman had guessed his name.

"Captain Saito Hajime!"

"Hijikata-san. I believe the clan Choshou just sent a spy."

"Did she attack you?"

"No. She said she wanted to join our forces and meet privately with one of the commanders. I couldn't stop her from escaping."

"An assassination attempt maybe… Did she say anything else?"

"She seems to know Sannan is not dead."

"Really?"

Hijikata Toshizo turned around, facing the direction in which the woman had disappeared. After a moment, he gravely declared:

"If you find her again, kill her immediately."

Hidden between two roofs, Yûna was observing the two men until they withdrew to their quarters for the night. A red glow crossed her eyes for a second. A thoughtful look upon her face, she was thinking. She hadn't hoped to convince them to accept her on a first attempt. She would have other occasions. Besides, showing them what she was capable of was probably her best bet. She was ready for everything. There was someone, within these walls, whom she absolutely had to meet. And nothing could prevent her from it.


	3. Confrontation in Kyoto

The following day, shortly after sunrise, just a few streets away from the Nishi Hongan-ji, a fight started between a faction opposed to the Shinsengumi and some bandits from the city. No one knew exactly what the cause of their altercation was. Some curious people were watching from a safe distance, but most had chosen to leave the place as fast as possible. The men involved had already drawn their katanas, and it was not long before blood was shed.

Sitting on the corner of a street, holding a hand begging for food, a strangely dressed beggar was the only one who did not seem concerned by the scene.

Indeed, she was the one who was the cause of the quarrel. At night, dressed as a Maiko, she had been spreading lies and rumours at Shimabara about the secrets of the men involved in the fight. Treasons, plots… Now these men had more reasons than necessary to kill each other at dawn. She stood satisfied: these men had been so much easier to manipulate than Saitou Hajime.

If someone had been observing her, one could have noticed her grin partly hidden by her large hat. Obviously, she was delighted by the scene. She just had to wait.

"Shinsengumi! In the name of the law, stop immediately!"

Hijikata Toshizo and his men tried to intervene and stop the fight. Yet this was but a lost cause. The bandits started screaming at each other again, and the Shinsengumi found itself having to fight and the faction with whom they had already fought in the past, and the group of bandits.

Yûna stood up, slowly removing her hat and adjusting her clothes. A woman noticed her. The oni caught the shocked expression upon her face, and simply winked at her. She analyzed the small battlefield. The soldiers of the Shinsengumi knew how to fight, but she had paid some mercenaries to put them in difficulty in order to make her own intervention more interesting. Of course, they were not supposed to kill any of the captains.

One of the bandits sneaked behind Hijikata Toshizo, getting ready to stab him from behind. Yûna reached for her weapon and jumped. She blocked the attack with a strength no human could be capable of. She killed him, before attacking a second man, then another. Hijikata had turned around, and after a moment of surprise upon seeing her, he resumed fighting. With the help of the oni, Hijikata and his men rapidly gained advantage over their opponents and triumphed. The few remaining men and the mercenaries left the battlefield swearing.

Once the dust settled, Okita Souji, captain of the first division, walked towards the young woman. In an ironic voice, he called:

"Toshi, Saito! Isn't that the woman from last night? It seems like she is no longer of use for us. Let's kill her.

-No."

Hijikata's voice tone resembled one of a whip in the wind.

The vice-commander had a feeling of déjà-vu. Wasn't he the one who intervened to save Yukimura Chizuru's life when Souji was ready to kill her on the night she was running away from the rasetsu? However, this woman seemed far less innocent than Koudou-san's daughter. Moreover, contrary to Chizuru, she did not belong to the family of a wanted man, so she was not of much use to them. Besides, changing his mind could be harmful to his authority.

"Who are you? Why do you want to join our ranks?

-If I may sir, it seems that some men are wounded and need to be attended to. It seems to me that the priority is to bring them back to your headquarters and take care of their wounds. I have myself some training in medicine that could prove to be useful. I will answer your questions afterwards.

-I am the only one here to give orders, Hijikata answered coldly. Give your weapon to Saitou Hajime if you wish to live long enough to explain us the reason of your presence here. Besides, we already have a doctor."

Hijikata ordered his men to carry the wounded away. Saitou and his men escorted Yûna to their headquarters.

After entering the Nishi Hongan-ji, Yûna was led to a wide room. She was sitting in front of Hijikata Toshizo, Kondou Isami and some of their men wearing the blue haori of the Shinsengumi soldiers. A young woman dressed as a man was serving tea in small white cups. Yûna guessed she was probably Yukimura Chizuru. The Oni noticed she had not been offered tea. But at least, her hands were not tied.

She was not surprised that Sannan Keisuke was missing. Officially, he had committed seppuku.

Kondou Isami was the first one to speak.

"I want to thank you for helping us today. However, it seems strange to us that you are so well-informed about the Shinsengumi. We don't have any proof you aren't working for somebody else."

She could feel the looks filled with suspicion of Saitou Hajime and Hijikata Toshizo.

"This is natural. The reason why I wish to fight to your side is that my family was massacred by one of the troops of the Choshou clan. My father and uncles were merchants, and they were murdered during one of their trade missions. I left Europe looking for them, and I learned their fate thanks to other foreign traders. Since I now have nothing left from my old life, I wish to put my combat techniques to good use by serving a fair cause. I believe in the cause of the Shinsengumi. I have a very strong sense of honour; you won't be disappointed."

"Another lie", she thought.

Despite her accent, she had spoken in a perfect Japanese. Kondou was thinking. After all, they needed new soldiers, and this woman seemed to display an impressive mastery of martial arts. As he was about to speak and act out of his usual generosity, he was interrupted by a teenager wearing a ponytail, whom Yûna guessed to be Todo Heisuke.

"She is a woman! We already have Chizuru, we don't need anyone else!

-Well, I think that since Chizuru helped the troops to be in such good spirits, it couldn't hurt to have another lady among us."

The red-haired man who had spoken was tall and smiled widely at Yûna. She noticed the weapon by his side was also a naginata. He seemed pleasant enough, maybe they would get along well.

-Chizuru is indeed of a great help to us, Saitou whispered. But Chizuru can dress up as a man because she is fairly young. It would be more difficult for Yûna."

The debate was starting to get heated. Kondou decided that Yûna would spend the night at their headquarters, and that he would give his final answer the following morning.

Yûna bowed to him gracefully. Hijikata made a curt hand gesture, ordering Okita to escort her to the small room where she would spend the night.

Meanwhile, Saitou and his men returned downtown to patrol, while Hijikata and Kondou remained alone to discuss Yûna's fate. Hijikata was screaming.

"We don't know anything about her! And besides her combat technique and her so-called medical skills, what else can she bring us? The last thing we need is a spy among us.

-Toshi, she seems like an honest person! And we have lost lots of men lately.

-We might lose even more men if she betrays us."

Walking out of the shadows, a third man stepped slowly towards the two officers.

"I agree with Kondou-san. She knows how to fight, she speaks two languages, which could prove to be very useful in our dealings with the westerners. She might have other hidden talents. If she managed to sneak past Saitou, to break in our headquarters and to save a patrol, I think we should at least consider her offer."

Sannan Keisuke had spoken in his usual soft and calm voice.

"This is a very big risk we would be taking, Hijikata said, frowning.

Adjusting his glasses, Sannan answered:

"Hijikata-kun, she could not harm us. Not on her own. Within our headquarters, it would be very easy to spy on her and determine if she tries to communicate with the outside, or if she is truly honest. We could employ Yamazaki or Saitou to this end. But in any case, she could end up being a remarkable asset."

Hijikata grinded his teeth but didn't answer. Kondou replied:

"Indeed, but let's pick Yamazaki and Heisuke instead. They will take turns in watching her. Saitou is already too busy, and we have other plans for him. What worries me is that she seems to know that you are not dead, Sannan…

-She might simply not have heard of my 'death'…

-By the way, Toshi, what do you think we should tell Yûna?

Hijikata sighed, looking weary.

-Kondou-san, the easiest thing to do would be to follow Souji's advice and kill her. If she ever talks to our military adviser, Itou-san…

-I think I could deal with that, interrupted Sannan.

-Sannan-san! You are playing with our safety!

Kondou intervened to try to calm him down.

-Calm down, Toshi! If she was aware of Sannan's survival before arriving here and if she wanted to spread this rumor, she would already have done so. We would not have any power over this. If you both agree, she will follow the training with the other soldiers starting tomorrow. As far as patrols are concerned, since she cannot possibly wear our uniform, she will just follow the patrols from a distance and intervene whenever necessary.

-Alright. But if she ever shows the slightest sign of betrayal, she has to be killed.

-Wise decision, Hijikata-kun. It seems that this is also what you said about Chizuru, and you never had to complain about her…

Hijikata glared at Sannan, who smiled back at him.

"About that… Why wouldn't she be your page?" said the vice-commander. Hijikata had never forgiven Sannan for giving his approval to Okita's idea of Chizuru being his page.

"Simply because we don't have any interest in having her know too much about the rasetsus.

-Well, said Kondou, I will let you decide who will share our decision with Yûna tomorrow morning."


	4. Night flowers

"Yûna-chan! Can I come in? I am bringing your breakfast!"

Yûna slowly opened her eyes. She blinked, and then sat on her futon while stretching her arms. She had a restless night, wondering what the officers would decide of her fate. Chizuru walked in with a wide smile on her face. She left the door half opened in order to let the fresh morning breeze into the room.

"Thank you very much, Yukimura Chizuru.

-I cooked you some rice and a vegetables soup! I hope you will enjoy it. Did you sleep well?

-Perfectly. As well as one can sleep when it is unknown whether one's head will still be attached to her shoulders the following day."

Chizuru did not understand the hint of sarcasm in Yûna's sentence. However, she did feel that something was off with the woman. There was something in her eyes that was different from most people… Yûna must have felt observed, because she gave a dark look to Chizuru, who jumped with surprise. Koudou-san's daughter did not expect such abrupt reactions from a woman. Hijikata's page tried bringing the topic to something more pleasant.

"I am glad you slept well! I have good news for you: you can stay with us. And you have to start the training today!

-Really?"

Well, it wasn't so bad after all, the Oni thought.

"Itadakimasu! I have to to go, I need to finish cooking the meals for everyone else."

Chizuru bowed and left the room. Yûna quickly finished eating, put on her usual clothes and went to join the soldiers in the main courtyard. Saitou Hajime was waiting for her. Holding out the naginata back to her, he said:

"I am giving you your weapon back. But I warn you…"

He was interrupted by Okita Souji.

"If you show the slightest sign of treason, it will be my pleasure to kill you!"

Yûna fixed him with a dark look.

"I don't doubt that. So, who do I have to face first?

-After the warm up and the katas, you will fight with Sanosuke Harada first, explained Saitou. Harada fights with a spear too, so you can learn from each other.

-It's fine with me", said Yûna.

During the first two parts of the training, Yûna ignored the looks of curiosity that were weighing on her. Saitou could not find anything to criticize in her technique. He then waved at Harada, indicating it was time for him to face Yûna.

He walked up to her.

"Ready?

-I am always ready, Harada-san!"

Her confidence made him smile.

Yûna bowed to him, and then attacked with a strength that made Shinpachi swear of surprise. Harada dodged and started laughing, before counter-attacking.

"Finally, an opponent of my level! Learn that lesson, Heisuke-kun! Said Harada to the teenager, who was watching the scene with the other officers.

-Make sure to save some modesty for later, Harada-san, whispered the newcomer. This way you will look less stupid when I will have defeated you."

Indeed, Harada fell on the ground after about five minutes, but the laughs of Nagakura Shinpachi and Todo Heisuke could not affect his good mood. Instead, he went on and on about how these two could not have managed to last more than three minutes in a fight against her. Saitou called them to order, and the training resumed.

* * *

Thus started Yûna's new life within the Shinsengumi. Days went by, filled with patrols and trainings. The young woman started taking her meals with the other soldiers, but did not develop any close friendships. She was polite, but she remained very quiet and private about herself. Even Chizuru didn't manage to befriend her.

The Oni felt isolated from the rest of the group but did not suffer from it. She was efficient during the missions she was attributed. But she understood clearly that she could not meet Sannan without provoking Hijikata's anger.

One night, Yûna turned and turned in her bed without falling asleep. She had the feeling she was suffocating in her room. She decided to stand up and go for a walk. She had noticed she was being followed by someone at all times. Aware that the spy would follow her if he saw her leaving her room, she used her Oni powers to become invisible for few seconds. She just needed to disappear a minute or so. She had just enough time to cross the courtyard and hide behind a tree before reappearing. Glancing behind her, she was reassured to see Yamazaki sitting by her door. She proceeded to walk along the walls of the temple compound. The night was chilly; Yûna tightened her clothes around her.

The pale light of the crescent moon was giving a surreal atmosphere to the alleyways of the temple compound. The demon paused a few moments to admire the night sky. Then, she resumed meandering. Her wanderings led her to an empty courtyard where some plum trees were growing.

She kneeled down on top of some steps leading to the interior of the courtyard. Sitting in this place hidden at the very north of the temple, she was contemplating in silent the sakura trees, enjoying the fresh air of the night that sent some agreeable shivers down her spine. She was letting her thoughts flow freely, uncovering distant memories of her past filled with melancholy. This is the fate shared by Onis. Their strength and powers are far superior to humans', but they have to face the regrets of a long life where too many things belong to the past.

Yet, some things allow them to escape from this nostalgia, for a few moments at least. The beauty of a blossoming tree. Freshness of a peaceful night. The ideals of conduct one has decided for her life.

She heard muffled steps behind her.

"Many men have spent hours here, contemplating these trees. It sometimes seems they can bring some answers to our questions and our doubts."

Yûna did not need to turn around. As soon as she heard this soft, even and smooth voice, she guessed who the man who had joined her was. Her surprise was tempered by the calm attitude of the samouraï and the general feeling of peace of the courtyard.

She did not answer right away. After a silence where only the breeze could be heard, she whispered:

"Sometimes, the answers inspired by the plum trees give birth to questions even more numerous."

The man kneeled by her side. They remained motionless for a while. The samouraï asked her a question.

"Do plum trees grow where you come from?"

Yûna smiled, her eyes still fixed on the trees.

"No. Where I am from, we have few trees that could pretend to compete with the beauty of plum trees. But we have some very old and beautiful oaks. And… there is the sea."

She looked at Sannan Keisuke. In the darkness, she could distinguish his black hair, a strand of hair passed behind his ear, his round glasses and his constant smile. Despite her admiration for his work on the Water of Life, she had expected to feel disgust towards a man who was but a rasetsu. In spite of this, she thought he had a look of intelligence, kindness and empathy she had rarely seen, and that she did not expect to find among the Shinsengumi.

Sannan turned towards her. She could see a shadow of sorrow and worry crossing his face.

"I apologize for disrupting your meditation. You must find me very tactless, to ask you all these questions, he said.

-Oh no, not at all! she protested. You did not disrupt me. I should be the one apologizing, for I was not authorized to leave my room at night, even within the compound.

-Then we find ourselves equally guilty. I do not have the right to leave my quarters, but for somewhat different reasons."

It was the demon's turn to smile.

"Do you often wander at night? she asked him.

-Often enough. I find night to be suitable for reflection. But I had no desire to be rebellious or any such thing. I simply wished to go for a walk.

-So, these rumours about ghosts haunting the temple at night…"

-It is probably my nocturnal wanderings that are the cause of such rumours. I often tell myself I should refrain from taking these walks, but each time…

He shrugged and sighed. Yûna dared asking him another question:

"Is it… Is it only to take walks that you wander through the temple at night?"

Sannan smiled. Yûna noticed he was carefully examining the expressions on her face.

-How perceptive."

Yûna was beginning to get used to his roundabout way of answering questions. She was a little bit surprise by the turn taken by their conversation. She did not expect to share a real conversation with this man, even less on their first meeting.

"After all, we are in a temple, said he. There is nothing strange in seeing ghosts roaming the temple. But if this makes you uncomfortable, I will put an end to my wanderings."

She felt guilt overwhelming her.

-Please don't do such a thing! Believe me, I do understand the desire one can have to breathe some fresh air to escape to escape from the suffocation of being contained indoors…"

It was Sannan's turn to be surprised. Had she guessed that rasetsus were not allowed to step outside? It was indeed suffocating, to be locked in day after day with the ones of his kind. He did not expect her to protest either. After a moment of hesitation, he answered:

"I thank you for being so understanding. I sincerely hope that you will feel at home here… And that you will find answers to your questions."

After smiling at her one last time, he stood up, bowed and left.

Yûna was confused. His sensitivity and gentleness seemed to be the exact opposite of the description Heisuke made of the samouraï. According to him, Sannan Keisuke supposedly became cold, distant and calculating after being wounded and drinking the Ochimizu. She had overheard a conversation between the teenager, Harada and Shinpachi, and the three men had complained at length about him. She felt her heart tightening. How was it that a man who had dedicated his body and his soul to the Shinsengumi was not loved? It seemed to her that this man had understood her emotions and her thoughts before she had even uttered a word.

She stood back up abruptly. She shouldn't lower her guard. The secretary general's kindness could not have been disinterested. Maybe he perceived her as a threat to his research or to the Shinsengumi. Maybe he was trying to gain her trust to deceive her later. Or perhaps he was trying to discover her flaws or her real intentions. No, he would not succeed if this was his true intent. However, if they got along, and if his words did not hide some ulterior motive, it would make her mission way easier. She decided to distrust him.

On her way back to her room, Yûna remembered every detail from this singular conversation. How did he guess she was thinking with nostalgia of the land that saw her growing up years before?

* * *

Sannan sat on a silk pillow, facing his desk. He was absent-mindedly looking at a Chinese poem from the Tang dynasty hung to the wall. Illuminated by the flickering glow of a candle, the ideograms painted in Chinese ink seemed to dance on the rice paper. Since this tragic night of March when he almost hurt Chizuru after drinking the Ochimizu, he had learned to get used to the new rhythm of his life, where dawn is to rasetsus what dusk is to humans. He was so engrossed in his work that he was spending all his nights studying the Water of Life. This brought him the satisfaction to know he was contributing to the work of the Shinsengumi and that he was accomplishing his duty towards them.

Yet, this night, he was pensive while going through his notes and Koudou's manuscripts. When the time came to feed to rasetsus, he could not stop staring at the strange and dreadful sight of the fallen creatures devouring the meal he had cooked for them.

"Now that I have obtained Kondou's authorization to use the Rasetsu unit for the nocturnal patrols, we will have more than one occasion to find fresh blood."

But his thoughts had already drifted away from the rasetsus.

* * *

 _ **Ainhoa11**_ : Thank you so much for your review! I hope this chapter answered your questions about Chizuru's reactions ;)

 ** _TheWhiteMouthCat_** : Thank you! I understand exactly what you mean about there not being many fanfictions about Sannan (Ainhoa11 wrote a great fanfiction about him btw). This is actually what encouraged me to write this story: we need more Sannan on there. He is a very interesting character. I hope you will enjoy the next chapters!

 _ **Guest 1995**_ : Thank you for your encouragements! I will try to update as soon as possible :)


	5. Nocturnal escape

Two weeks after meeting Sannan Keisuke for the first time, Yûna was still having trouble focusing during her daily patrols. No inhabitant of Kyoto watching the patrols of the Shinsengumi in the streets would have been able to tell someone was following the soldiers. Yet, she could see she was not paying as close attention to what was going on than she should. She knew she was relying too much on her abilities to unconsciously feel what was happening around her, and that she should be more careful.

In truth, she could only think about the best way to convince the leaders to let her perform research on the Ochimizu.

Shinpachi, Harada and Heisuke were teasing her during their trainings, stating the reason for her absent-mindedness was that she was likely infatuated with one of them. But she just ignored them. She was more concerned with the fact that Yamazaki might have suspected she had left her room at some point two weeks before, because he was now watching her more closely. Heisuke also seemed to do the same when it was his turn to spy on her. This would make any attempt at disappearing more difficult. Yet, their daily reports of her activities to Hijikata remained the same, and the vice-commander did not learn anything interesting. She was making sure to conform strictly to the same program than the other soldiers of the group, and to be seen at all time in the presence of other soldiers.

She also suspected Saitou Hajime to keep an eye on all members of the Shinsengumi to detect potential double agents. She had gotten used to know about his whereabouts so she could avoid him at will.

Nonetheless, one night that Yamazaki was gone on some mission –probably having to do with collecting information on the Choshou clan, Yûna decided it was time for her to act. She had overheard Hijikata authorizing Shinpachi and Harada to go for a drink. It was the perfect occasion. Heisuke was less efficient at spying than Yamazaki, so she could escape from his vigilance more easily.

She slid the door of her room open, and faked surprised as she ran into Heisuke in the hallway.

"Heisuke-kun! What a surprise! How come you are still awake so late at night?

-I… I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go on a walk.

-I see, I couldn't sleep either. Mind if I tag along?

-Mhm, not at all."

Yûna smiled as they started walking towards the gardens of the temple.

"Well then! Actually, this is quite perfect. I wanted to tell you about something."

Todou raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Did you? What did you want to tell me about?

-Well, I think you and I did not meet in good circumstances. I have been feeling some tensions between the rest of the group and myself… It has been pretty tough for me to fit in the group, you know…"

Heisuke seemed really embarrassed by her words and started scratching the back of his head nervously. Yûna's eyes had become really sad all of a sudden. He tried thinking of a clever way to apologize, but nothing came to his mind.

"Ha-ha, well, sorry for that, it's just…

-Oh no, don't justify yourself! I completely understand. It is my fault, really. I mean, I am not from here, so I do not know Japanese customs really well, and these are troubled times… I did not expect I would know how to behave and make friends here right away, but I feel I should learn more about Japanese customs. This way I would fit in better and we would be more efficient as a group."

Yûna saw in Heisuke's eyes his suspicions were slowly vanishing, and were replaced by something close to pity towards her.

The young man suddenly had an idea.

"I guess you are pretty far from home… Well, now that I think of it, I heard Hijikata allowed Harada and Shinpachi to go to Shimabara for a couple of hours to have a glass or two of saké! It could be fun for you, I guess you never had a chance to drink sake before. We have to come back before curfew, but would you like to join us?

-Oh, Heisuke-kun, this is a lovely idea! Let me buy you a drink then."

Heisuke was slightly shocked by the idea of being invited by a woman, but a free glass of hot sake was still a free glass, no matter how inappropriate her offer was.

"Awesome! Let's go then! But Hijikata must not know we left, okay?

-I promise."

"Of course he won't know", she thought.

On their way to Shimabara, Yûna pretended not to mind Heisuke's enthusiasm. They quickly reached the entrance of the Shimabara, ironically located just a few streets away from the temple. They entered a house called the "Blue Peony", where they met with Shinpachi and Harada, whose surprise was soon tempered by their happiness at having some female company. They were too poor to afford the company of geishas, so they enjoyed being entertained by Yûna's failed attempts at pouring them saké, under the judgmental looks of geikos.

Yûna, pretending to be drunk, was cheerful and talkative with her three companions. She was relieved that neither Hijikata, Kondou nor Saitou decided to join them.

Once the three men became inebriated, she quickly poured a strong sleeping filter in Heisuke's drink. When he started showing the first signs of fatigue, she turned to Harada. Strategically placing her hand on his arm, she asked:

"Harada-san, I think I am not feeling well…

-Yûna? Are you okay?

-I don't know… I am feeling very dizzy… Would it be inappropriate to ask you to escort me back to my room?"

The samouraï looked at her with surprise, but he couldn't think clearly. The alcohol he just drank, Yûna's eyes and her hand on his arms were clouding his judgment.

"Please, I am afraid I might run into some dangerous people in the street at this time of night…

-Well then… I guess it would be safer for you to be accompanied back to the temple… Hey, Shinpachi! Make sure you don't forget to wake up Heisuke before leaving!

-Too bad, I was hoping I could get rid of him this way and eat all his food… Oh well. Don't try to take advantage of the girl, Sanosuke!"

Yûna prevented Harada from punching Nagakura Shinpachi by taking his arm and pretending to fall. He helped her walking safely back to the temple, letting her lean on his arm the whole time. In truth, he was quite proud of escorting her.

Satisfied she had a witness who saw her getting back into her room, knowing Heisuke could not possibly have followed her, she bowed to Harada, thanking him many times, and closed the door. After waiting a few minutes, she sneaked outside in the hallway once more.

No sign of Harada. He had most likely returned to his room or to the Blue Peony. She grabbed her leather bag and left.

Her heart beating fast, she crossed several courtyards. The Nishi Honga-ji seemed even bigger than normal. It was a complex labyrinthine of courtyards, alleyways, gardens and pagodas. When she reached one of the courtyards at the back of the buildings, hidden behind thick bushes of plants she didn't know, she slowed down. She could easily guess why Hijikata and Kondou chose to hide Sannan's existence: it was the only way the Ochimizu could remain a secret.

She walked around the bushes, and finally found what she was looking for. Hidden behind century old pines, there was a very long building. It fit perfectly the descriptions she had been given. She walked up the steps, and kneeled down in front of the door. She could distinguish the glow of a candle through the white paper of the panel. She tried to slow down her heart, and took a deep breath.

"Sannan-san. It's Yûna. Could I talk to you for a few moments?"

She hoped her voice wasn't shaking, but she was confident it didn't. She heard the sound of someone walking on the other side of the door. After what seemed like forever, the door slid open. She bowed until her forehead touched the ground.

"Yûna-kun! I knew you would come here one day. Come in, please."

Yûna stood up and entered the room. She was agreeably surprised by the appearance of the place. Dozens of books, manuscripts and calligraphy were carefully piled up around the room on shelves and tables. On the walls were pinned drawings of the human body and brain. On three different desks she saw various flasks, bottles, grinder, mortars, tubes and various containers she guessed were used for the preparation of the Water of Life. Sannan's bedroom was a laboratory and a specialized library. Yûna felt immediately at home.

Sannan invited her to sit on a pillow, and poured her a cup of tea. They sat in front of each other silently, until the secretary general broke the silence.

"Yûna, I learned that when you first came here, you asked to meet me.

-I did… I heard a lot about your research on the Water of Life."

A shadow crossed Sannan's face. He was carefully studying her face.

"I suspected we could not keep this secret forever… and that your only goal was not to patrol every day."

So this means he had been watching her. She did not think that a human, even less a rasetsu, could guess her inner thoughts so easily.

"Fear not", said Sannan softly. "As a … fury, I am bound to hide in the shadows. I had plenty of occasions to observe you and realize you were not only there to practice. This is the very reason why I approached you on the other day by the plum trees. However, I still ignore the motive of your visit."

Sannan was carefully watching her every reaction. Indeed, after getting wounded, he had become very distant from the other members of the Shinsengumi; as a result, he had developed a suspicious nature. Yet, something told him that the person in front of him deserved at least to be listened to before being judged. He would have time to make his opinion of her later on.

"Sannan-san, I came from Europe to help you in your research. I come from where the Ochimizu was created, and I have been working on it for years. I brought several improved versions of the water of life."

She opened her bag and held various bottles of a red liquid to him.

"Please. Let me help you."

Sannan took the bottles from her hands and, bringing them closer to the light of a candle, observed them carefully. He was surprised by the quality of their appearance. He would have to test them, but they looked promising. After a long moment of silence, he turned towards the young woman.

"What interest do you have in bringing me your help?"

Yûna paused a moment, thinking of an answer.

"Unfortunately, circumstances prohibit me from answering this question. But believe me when I say that I will not stop working on the Ochimizu until it is perfect, or when you will judge me to be unfit or no longer of use to the progression of your work."

The samurai was hesitant. Could this woman be trusted? However, he could tell she was an extremely determined person. If he denied her request, she would find some other way to work on developing the water of life elsewhere, and it would be more difficult to watch her from a distance. She might even have to work for enemies of the Shinsengumi. Moreover, he was alone most of the time, and the days when he was close to the other warriors was but a painful memory. His research was the last thing that enabled him to serve the ideals of the Shinsengumi and to feel useful to their cause. If this woman could help him to reach his goal, he could not see any reason not to accept her as his assistant. If only she proved herself capable of such a task. He sighed.

"Alright. I agree to let you work with me. But you shall not talk about this to anyone. I will inform Hijikata tomorrow. Remember: you cannot get anywhere near the rasetsu. They are dangerous creatures, they could cause you harm."

Yûna's eyes widened. She bowed a second time until her forehead touched the floor to show him her gratitude.

"Thank you. Thank you very much, Sannan-san. You will not be disappointed."

The man laughed, which had not happened to him in months.

"Yûna-chan! No need to be so formal. After all, we are going to spend a lot of time working together, so we should start learning to get used to one another."

She smiled.

After bidding him good night, she took the way back to her room. It seemed that everything would be easier from now on.

* * *

 **TheWhiteMouthCat:** Wow, that is high level review right there! Thank you very much for your input! You just gave me enough incentive to finish translating my fifth chapter. Thank you. I hope you will like this chapter.

As for Sannan's hair colour… Officially, according to his wiki page it is dark brown, but personally I prefer to think of it as light black. Dammit, now I won't be able to sleep until I have solved this mystery… Dark brown or light black… Gold and white or blue and black…


	6. Research on the Water of Life

**Dear readers,**

 **I apologize for the long wait! I have been very busy. My beloved soon-to-be husband asked me several times when I would start writing fiction again, so here it is. Thank you to the guest reviewer for the very kind review last week. It encouraged me to get back to work and start translating a few more chapters. As always, I am sorry for any mistakes in the English translation. Enjoy the read, and please let me know what you think in the comments!**

* * *

Yûna began working the following evening. At dusk, she used her powers to turn invisible in order to escape from Yamazaki's watch. She was in a pretty good mood, and cheerfully crossed the alleys of pines and plum trees to reach the buildings where Sannan and the rasetsus were staying. As she had done on the evening before, she kneeled in front of the door.

"Sannan-san, may I come in?"

"Come in, I was expecting you!"

Yûna opened the door and closed it behind her. The young woman saw Sannan sitting as his desk, a benevolent smile on his face. But she was not naïve: she knew by experience that behind any smile can be hidden treachery and deceit. In any case, she was happy to finally start working for him. Sannan pointed at a tea pot and two cups on the table next to him:

"I asked Chizuru-chan to prepare enough tea for the night, said Sannan.

She was pleasantly surprised: Sannan knew it would be harder for her than him to stay so late.

"Thank you very much, Sannan-san!

"Please have a seat", he said while pouring her a cup of tea. I studied carefully the Ochimizu samples you gave me, and they are of an admirable quality!"

Yûna brought the tea cup to her lips and smelled the fragrance of the tea. It was a floral tea, in which she identified aromas of jasmine, peach and apricot. She tasted it; the tea was delicious. She wondered if it was Sannan or Chizuru who had chosen it.

"My samples are far from being perfect. Sir, I noticed that you are… different from other rasetsus."

Sannan frowned; Yûna noticed it immediately and quickly corrected herself.

"Please forgive my assumption. I meant to say that you seem different from the descriptions commonly found about them. Did you drink a different version of Ochimizu? What did you modify?"

Sannan looked at her in silence for a few seconds before answering.

"Yûna", he said slowly, "if we are going to work together, it would be in our best interests to speak openly. You knew I was alive, and apparently you also know that I am a rasetsu. How are you so well informed? Have you ever seen rasetsus before me?"

She sighed softly.

"I understand your concerned. I was asking these questions simply to see how we can improve the Water of Life. I learnt all this while I was working in a laboratory in Europe. I do not know how the researcher for whom I worked obtained all this information, but he shared them with me so that we could progress on our research."

Sannan seemed satisfied. Yûna knew that in their mutual interest, it was necessary to give him half-truths rather than being completely honest. But she felt a bit guilty.

"What was your master's name?", asked Sannan, who was growing increasingly intrigued.

He saw Yûna's expressions abruptly change, and freeze, as if she had just been hit in the chest. She tried to regain some composure.

"His name was Charles. Charles of Clouseaules."

Sannan saw the change in her eyes, and decided not to insist. He returned to their original topic.

"To answer your questions, I did indeed add some ingredients. However, I also brought some changes to the preparation itself, specifically in the order of preparation. Look."

He handed some papers to her.

"These are the ingredients and the original formula as she was originally created in Europe and used by Koudou-san. These are the ingredients that I added. And here is the order in which I prepared them. In the improved version, I changed the distillation method, and I also distilled the ingredients separately.

Yûna was listening carefully as he added more details to the changes that he was making, and some of the ones he was considering for future experiments. She took some pages of a manuscript from her leather bag, and answered:

"These are the ingredients of the two version that I brought to you. If we combine the ingredients that we both added, we could maybe improve our results."

"This is a good idea. However, it is likely that some ingredients may have duplicated effects, or even opposite ones. As a consequence, we should first start by analyzing the properties of each ingredient separately before looking at creating new miscellanies. Would you like to take a look at Koudou's manuscripts?"

"I would love to! she exclaimed. Back in Europe, I was only able to read some excerpts. I also brought you this".

She handed over to him a large manuscript bounded in leather.

"These are the notes of my… of the research I worked for."

By the way she was handling the book, Sannan understood the importance of the book for her.

"Thank you, Yûna-chan. I will take good care of it."

Yûna enthusiastically started reading Koudou's texts. She was taking notes in the small notebook that she brought everywhere with her. While working on his desk, Sannan was watching her out of the corner of his eye. He smiled by noticing how focused and hard-working she was. It seemed to him that she was so engrossed by the contents of the book that she had left to another world.

When they took a break to drink some tea, Sannan told her that it had been a difficult task to convince Hijikata to let her work for him, but that Kondou had found the necessary arguments. Yûna was starting to feel deeply grateful towards these men who gave her their support.

Just before dawn, they put away the documents scattered across the table. Yûna bowed to thank Sannan, and she left. She started walking back towards her room, a tired look on her face, but her heart filled with joy. She breathed the fresh air of the morning and stretched her arms in front of her, slightly bending her head towards the back. She felt alive. She would probably not have more than two hours of sleep before the morning training. Yet she did not care: working on such a fascinating topic was worth all the hard work.

On his side, as he was watching her leave, Sannan had a strange feeling: it seemed to him that his work and his loneliness were starting to feel less heavy on his shoulders. For a few hours, the burden was almost gone.

From then on, Yûna met Sannan in his laboratory every night. She did not have to hide from Heisuke and Yamazaki anymore, who were the only two aware of her activities other than the commanders of the Shinsengumi. Everyday, she worked hard until late in the night. At the beginning, she was content with the small tasks Sannan entrusted her with: cleaning the test tubes, flasks and bottles, going to look for ingredients, etc. After a while, Sannan realized that she had strong aptitudes and a thorough knowledge about Ochimizu that surprised him. As a result, he let her create new mixtures based on the texts left behind by Koudou. Sannan soon realized that Yûna was pushing herself too hard. One night, he told her:

"Yûna, I feel grateful for your help. But you are training hard everyday, you work almost all night long, and you are not getting enough sleep. You look exhausted."

"Sannan, I am not tired at all! Besides, it is urgent that we make progress in our research. We need to create the perfect potion. How else are we going to help the Shinsengumi?"

Sannan smiled. He would not admit that he was genuinely starting to care for her. He said softly:

"Yûna-chan. I am as anxious as you are about our success. However, you can only help me if you are well rested and at the top of your intellectual abilities."

Yûna did not know what to answer.

"Now that I have obtained the authorization to patrol by night, you will have to work on your own more often. I would like you to take advantage of this to take real breaks and sleep for a few extra hours. You can sleep on my futon if necessary."

The young woman was shocked that he could trust her so soon. It seemed so unnatural to her. He laughed:

"Do not worry, even though you can work here alone at night, Heisuke and Yamazaki will not be any less vigilant!"

"This… this is not what I mean. I am indebted to you; thank you for your generosity, sir."

"Well, I am starting to know you better. Of course I trust that you will keep working just as hard as before. In any case, please do not burn yourself out. Harada and Kondou would not forgive me."

It was time for her to go. She finished drinking her tea and walked towards the door.

"By the way, Yûna-chan…"

"Yes, sir?"

"Maybe you do not have to act so formally around me?"


	7. Celebration at Shimabara

The month of October 1866 was unusually cold. Frost was covering the grass of the gardens, as well as the roofs of the Nishi Hongan-ji. Yûna and Sannan were rapidly making progress in their research. Despite their mutual tendency to be distrustful and wary of others, they appreciated their time working together. The other members of the group were also getting used to the presence of the young Oni. Her presence seemed to have brought Sannan to better days, and the men of the Shinsengumi were happy of such a change. Harada in particular had taken a liking to Yûna, maybe due in part to their similar fighting techniques.

Sannan was continually surprised to see how at ease Yûna seemed to be in the strange world of the Water of Life and of the rasetsus. He even started feeling some sort of admiration and of respect for her dedication, even though he felt that she was hiding something. He was also somewhat worried for the young woman. One night, he told her:

"Yûna-chan, the men are bringing Chizuru tomorrow night to celebrate Harada Sanosuke's success. He managed to protect a sign warning people of the treachery of the Choshou Clan from a group of bandits who were trying to remove it and have it thrown into the river. I would like you to join them in their celebrations."

Yûna almost chocked on her cup of tea.

"Is… is this some kind of joke?"

"Not at all", smiled Sannan. "I believe this would be very good for you, that's all. You do need to have some fun after all, you are young, and… You cannot spend all your evenings among books and test tubes".

Yûna stared at Sannan in disbelief. She felt offended. Did he think she was just some king of sad and boring book worm?

"In all my due respect, I believe this would be a bad idea. To be honest, I feel more at ease in the middle of a battlefield than in a house full of distinguished men and elegant women. I do not fully master Japanese etiquette quite yet… Besides, Hijikata will never agree to such a thing."

"Well, actually, he already told me he thinks this is an excellent idea".

She was raging inside. Sannan's smile widened.

"Hijikata-kun has a very poor tolerance to alcohol, and after a glass of saké or two the others will not even notice if you know Japanese etiquette or not."

"But it's expensive…"

"Harada Sanosuke decided to invite everyone thanks to the reward he received."

She was short of arguments. She was cursing inside against this man who had enough intelligence to put her in such a situation, in front of this fait-accompli, and still finding answers to every single one of her arguments.

"This is not how we are going to make progress on our research. Sir… sorry, Sannan, surely you are going to come too, aren't you?"

She could not get used to speaking to him informally. She was feeling uncomfortable with this proximity between them.

"Remember I am supposed to be dead, Yûna-chan. I cannot join the others in their outings and parties. Do not worry, I will be perfectly fine here. I am quite certain that Harada will be delighted to attend to yourself and to make sure you spend a pleasant evening."

If looks could kill, Sannan would not have enjoyed his rasetsu life much longer, for Yûna was staring at him with fury. Harada-san, really? She was not sure who initially suggested the idea to whom, but she was mad at both of them. Still, she did not want to show Sannan anything about how she was feeling – she was too proud for that.

"Alright. But only one hour or two! Then I will come back to the headquarters."

"Haha alright then!", laughed Sannan. "Only one hour or two".

She tried to change of topic.

"Do you have a patrol planned for tomorrow evening?"

"Not tomorrow, I don't."

At this moment, Yûna thought that she was hearing people giggling on the outside. She stood up, opened the door and she caught Souji, Heisuke, Harada and Sinpachi red-handed, eaves-dropping on them. She sighed.

"You do realize that you are going to pay for this, right?"

She heard Sannan laughing softly behind her. Yûna tried to pretend to still be angry, but she just could not be truly upset against these men who looked like young boys trying to prepare some kind of non-harmful prank. She decided she would take her revenge the next day during practice and make them bite the dust.

* * *

On the following day, frowning and sulking, Yûna walked across Kyoto between Chizuru and Harada, following the rest of the group. Defeating the men during training had not helped her to improve her mood. What was she going to do at Shimabara? Chizuru did not seem to be more comfortable than her, which reassured her. She was listening to Shinpachi and Heisuke who were endlessly narrating Harada's prowess for having protected the sign, and for inviting everyone for dinner and drinks. Yûna was wondering if he was trying to impress her, and if he had asked Sannan to invite her for him. When they were getting ready to enter the Tea House, Shinpachi stopped and encouraged everyone to drink as much as possible, thus making Harada whispering that it was easy to see that he was not paying for all of this. Heisuke was thrilled that he could have a good drink of saké, Souji mentioned that Hijikata could not hold his liquor, and Saito whispered to Chizuru that she should not hold back. Yûna remained at a distance while the group entered the tea house, carefully watching the building. Saito came back outside.

"Yûna, will you join us?"

"Yes, I will be right there."

Once they arrived upstairs, Yûna noticed that the only spot left was next to Sano Harada, opposite to Chizuru, near the door. All the walls were decorated with colorful peonies. A beautiful woman named Kimigiku introduced herself to them as their hostess for the night, warning them that their meals would soon be ready. Yûna noticed that Chizuru and the men were mesmerized by her beauty. The young Oni was starting to feel uneasy. There was something off about this woman. She felt like she should not have come - she did not belong there. She was starting to doubt her choice of clothing - maybe she should not have worn Japanese clothing at all. She pressed her fingers on her knees.

She clenched her teeth when Kimigiku poured her a glass of saké. The men could laugh all they wanted at Hijikata's inability to drink, hers was even worse. It seemed to her that Chizuru had decided not to drink. Why had they refused to let her work in peace on her research?

"What's wrong, Yûna-chan? You're not drinking!", exclaimed Heisuke.

"Yes, I will in a moment…"

"You're way too serious, you should enjoy the evening and have fun!", added Shinpachi.

Yûna had never tested saké before. Out of curiosity and hoping to relax for a bit, she brought the cup to her lips, stared at her reflection for a quarter of a second.

"To hell with Japanese etiquette", she whispered to herself.

She drank all of the content of the cup in one go.

All the men stared at her.

The saké was strong. Too strong. And also, it was burning.

"Hey Hijikata! Even this woman is a better drinker than you!", screamed Souji.

It was strong. Too strong. Her head started spinning. If there was one thing that she deeply hated, it was losing her self-control.

She decided to eat her sushi to maintain some dignity.

"Right now, I really hate you Sannan."

No, she was not going to get drunk. No, she was not going to get drunk at all…

She lost track of the conversation and she could not even notice when Harada was speaking to her. She did not hear when Sano accused Chizuru to have attacked her the night before. She only noticed that Chizuru had suddenly disappeared. Yûna could not really understand what was going on.

"This bunch of idiots are going to make my mission even more difficult if they continue this way", she thought to herself. "Oh, look, someone poured me some more saké!"

She started drinking the new glass of liquor, and had some more rice and miso soup. She was not feeling very well.

Chizuru reappeared, dressed in a very elegant kimono. It was probably Saito's idea. An idea… Yes, that is exactly what she needed! An idea! And she just had an excellent one! She took advantage of the fact that all the men were staring at the young girl to stand up clumsily and walk towards Kimigiku.

"Madam, excuse me. I have a big favor to ask you."

* * *

A few moments later, Yûna sneaked outside. She did not notice the three dangerous looking men walking towards the Shimabara. She felt slightly guilty for not staying with Sanosuke and the others and leaving without warning in the middle of the evening. She thought they would have more fun without her anyways. She had just gotten this great idea! She started to head towards the Shinsengumi.

"How can Japanese women walk with these shoes?"

Yûna tried to regain her composure and walk in a way as dignified as possible. Several men were staring at her. After a few minutes she gave up and decided to come back by palanquin – her head was spinning too much, and this would be much easier. Once she reached the Nishi Hongan-ji, she headed towards Sannan's quarters.

But as she was walking up the stairs, she tripped, shrieked and tried to catch the guardrail. She heard Sannan's voice.

"Who's there?"

"No one! Well, I mean, yes, but no one. It's nothing!"

"Yûna?"

Sannan opened the door and tried to refrain his surprised. Yûna was dressed in a long, night-blue kimono maintained by a large golden belt made of silk. Her dark hair was arranged in a sophisticated chignon decorated by jewels made of abalone shells. She blushed when she saw him looking at her.

"I just thought that you were often left on your own when others go out, so… So since you cannot join the Shinsengumi's celebrations, I thought that maybe we should make celebrations happen here, for you."

He could not find anything to reply.

"I… I brought you some saké."

Beyond the initial shock that he felt, he was touched by her intention.

"Yûna-chan…"

They remained a moment in silence before he spoke again.

"Come on in, Yûna. You are going to get a cold…"

He helped her to walk up the stairs. Once in the bedroom, Yûna whispered:

"I will warm up the saké, I think it might have gotten a bit cold outside."

"Do not worry. You rest, I will take care of the saké."

He came back a few moments later with two glasses of saké, and handed one to Yûna. But as soon as her lips touched the liquor, she stopped drinking, realizing she might already have had too much to drink. Sannan poured her a cup of tea instead.

As a good tactician, Sannan could have been tempted to take advantage of the situation to learn more about Yûna's intentions and what she was really doing at the Shinsegumi. Yet, something in the way she was looking at him stopped the samurai. He could see that she really cared for him, and wished to see him as happy as the others members of the Shinsengumi. He could not bring himself to making her speak under the influence of alcohol while she had given him a thousand proofs of her dedication. Instead, he thanked her.

"I feel truly grateful that you came here. I hope that you were at least a bit entertained while you were there."

"Yes, actually I did! Chizuru is really very beautiful when she is dressed as a woman. The food was delicious… However, I am surprised by how strong saké is."

Sannan laughed.

"Indeed, it is a very peculiar beverage. I suppose you did not have many occasions to drink it when you were living in the West."

Yûna sighed.

"Yûna-chan, what's wrong?"

"Sannan, in tea houses, maikos and geishas sing and dance for men. I wish I could have learnt Japanese dances or songs. But I imagine I only have my conversation for tonight."

"Yûna", he said softly, "this already means a lot to me. I am happy that you are here".

He almost put her hand on hers, but then reconsidered.

"Tell me… If you do not know any song or dance from here, do you know any from back home?"

Yûna thought about it for a few seconds, while looking carefully at Sannan. She acquiesced. She looked in the direction of one of the candles that was lighting the room. She started singing, her eyes turned towards invisible landscapes that only she could see.

' _Are you going to Scarborough Fair_

 _Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme_

 _Remember me to one who lives there_

 _He once was a true love of mine…'_

Sannan could not stop looking at her. It seemed to him that her voice reached the skies in melodious scrolls and curls, with accentuations from another time, another land. For the very first time since he had turned into a rasetsu, he was feeling human.

 _'…Tell him to find me an acre of land_

 _Parsley sage, rosemary and thyme_

 _Between the salt water and the sea strand_

 _Then he'll be a true love of mine…'_

When the last notes died in the silence of the room, Sannan knew that he would never question Yûna's motives.

As for the Oni, when her eyes met the samurai's, she lowered her eyes towards her hands pressed on her knees. Her lies and secrets were becoming a heavier burden, but she did not have a choice. She felt her heart tightening. She had come to distract him, and yet here she stood, filled by doubts.

"Did you enjoy it?"

Sannan smiled and nodded in silence, and rearranged his glasses on his nose.

They heard a scream coming from outside.

"Sannan, Sannan!"

They jumped. Harada and Souji opened the door. Harada exclaimed:

"Yûna is gone!"

He noticed that Yûna was in fact, sitting close to Sannan.

"Oh…"

Yûna hid her laughter behind the sleeve of her kimono.

"Yûna must have had too much saké and got lost on the way to her bedroom…", Souji sniggered.

Yûna's cheeks blushed.

"Okita-kun, Harada-kun, why don't you join us", Sannan suggested to save Yûna from her embarrassment. "We still have some saké left".

"What an excellent idea!", Yûna said – she was happy that Sannan finally had some company and that the men would temporarily leave their prejudice against him aside.

At dawn, Okita and Sanosuke returned to their quarters, singing loudly. Sano punched Heisuke in the ribs when they ran into him, probably to help him sober up.

* * *

Yûna bowed in front of Sannan.

"Thank you so much, Sannan-san. I had lots of fun!"

"It is I who should thank you. You helped me to feel happier than I had been in a long time."

He replaced his glasses and watched her go. He did not know that an unpredictable event would soon disrupt the fragile balance between them.


	8. The Quest for Blood

Chizuru was woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of steps at her door. It seemed to her that someone was standing just in front of her bedroom. Thinking that she was simply in the middle of a dream, she tried to fall back asleep. A few minutes later, the sound starting again. She turned around, opened her eyes and jumped when she saw a shadow cast on her door by the light of the moon. She sat down.

"Who's there?"

A strange laugh was the only answer she received.

"Who's there", she repeated in an anxious tone. She stood up and started looking for her kodachi. She was not fast enough. The door was thrown opened. She screamed in terror: a man with white hair dressed with the Shinsengumi uniform was walking towards her with a demonic laugh.

"A rasetsu! Go away! Just leave!"

"Your blood… I want blood… Give it to me!"

"No, go away! Help!"

The creature jumped and bit her in the shoulder. She felt the rasetsu's teeth breaking her flesh and drawing her blood, and she felt the warm liquid running on her shoulder. She was paralyzed by fear.

"Chizuru! Move away!"

Hijikata appeared, along with several other Shinsengumi members, minus Sannan and Yûna. The vice-commander drew his katana and attacked the rasetsu. The fury fell but rose back up right away, still demanding some blood. She grabbed Chizuru's ankle, urging to plunge his teeth in her flesh. Harada, Souji and Sano rushed and pierced the rasetsu's body with their weapons until they stopped his heart. The creature died in an inhumane scream. Chizuru fainted.

"Chizuru!"

All turned around when they heard Yûna screaming the Oni's name. She and Sannan had just managed to locate the rasetsu.

"Sannan-san! I demand an explanation! What happened?", Hijikata said harshly.

"I apologize. I have not been able to watch him adequately. I do not understand what happened nor how he managed to escape."

Hijikata glanced at him severely. Sannan walked towards Chizuru, who was slowly recovering and waking up, still in Hijikata's arms.

"Chizuru, how are you?", asked Sannan. "Oh, you're wounded! This cut looks deep, let me have a l…"

Before Yûna was able to stop him, Sannan had touched Chizuru's wound, forgetting that the sight of blood would cause him to take his rasetsu shape. As soon as he touched Chizuru's cut, he started having convulsions, his hair turned white, his eyes red, and he lost his mind.

Yûna screamed.

"Sannan-san!"

"Move aside!", Hijikata screamed, trying to protect Chizuru with his body.

Yûna's scream turned into a plea as Sannan turned towards her, wondering who he should bite first. The wounded, or the closest one to him.

"Sannan-san, I beg you…"

Her voice softened and she walked closer to him, putting her life in peril. She whispered.

"Sannan… Please come back…."

Hijikata stood up and moved her aside.

"I am sorry, Yûna. We don't have a choice."

Yûna saw the vice-commander drawing her weapon. She yelled.

"No! Do not touch him!"

The men had already drawn their weapons, but she was faster. She turned around and cut her wrist on Saitou's blade. She ran to Sannan, and kicked him in the plexus, making him fall to the floor. She had trained for years, and was much stronger than most rasetsus. She threw herself on him, blocking his arms with her intact hand and one of her knees. She struggled to maintain him in this position, but successfully pressed her opened wound against his lips. Only then did she feel the pain from the cut, but she did not care. All the cells from her body were focused on fulfilling one hope: making Sannan return to his original state. She was feeling her heartbeat pulse in her vein, and her blood dripping down Sannan's throat. The adrenalin rush prevented her from noticing any of the things around her. She was lost in this moment, holding his head with her free hand now that he had stopped struggling. She waited for him to finish drinking.

Silence had fallen upon the room, and the men were all waiting for a sign from Hijikata.

Yûna's heart was beating so fast that she feared that it was about to explode. She had never been so close to the samurai, and feeling his lips on her skin, and his head resting on her hand was affecting her more than she would care to admit.

Sannan's hair started turning back to their normal color, and his facial expression returned to their usual peacefulness. Reassured, all the soldiers turned their attentions to the dead rasetsu and, more importantly, Chizuru.

Sannan's and Yûna's eyes met.

"Yûna… What… what happened?"

She did not know what to say. She had a knot in her throat, and she could not stop staring at him. She had almost lost him, and all her hopes to complete her projects would have vanished. But what upset her the most was that, for a few minutes, this man's life had been more important than her mission. When tears came to her eyes, she turned abruptly and moved away from him. He sat down. He misunderstood her attitude for repulsion towards him. He watched her ran away and let her go.

"What on earth is going on? I demand explanations! How can one make such a fuss in the middle of the night?"

The effeminate voice of the military advisor Itou brought all of them back to reality.

"What… Sannan-san? You're alive? What does all of this mean? And who is this man lying dead on the floor?"

Kondou was the fastest to react.

"This is a very long story, and I promise you that we will give you some explanations first thing tomorrow!", he said in a voice as positive as possible.

"You better do so! How dare you hide things of the highest importance from your military adviser? I cannot trust you if…"

Kondou hurried to lead him away from the scene. The military adviser's annoying voice soon disappeared in the distance, and the insults got lost in the night. Hijikata offered Chizuru to have Heisuke attend to her wound, but she moved away from him, explaining she would rather do it herself. Souji walked to Sannan.

"Okita-kun… I lost my mind when I saw Chizuru's blood, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did… But don't worry, as I promised you, I would never have let anyone else kill you."

Sannan managed to give him a faint smile – he was not exactly in the mood for this type of joke, and he was worried about Yûna.

"Where did Yûna go?" Sano asked.

They all looked at each other. Yûna was gone.

* * *

Somewhere in one of the remote corners of the temple, hiding in the shade of a grove, Yûna was trying to calm down. Her arms wrapped around her knees, hiding her face in the fabric of her clothes, she was not paying attention to the blood dripping from her arm. She knew it would heal fast. She had acted fast and adequately, she did not have anything wrong to say about her conduct. She had not let the others see her feelings, her fears, her hatred, her hopes, because they could strongly affect the objectives that she had set for herself. Why had she suddenly let Sannan's survival or death affect her so much.

She raised her head, trying to diminish her doubts and reason herself.

"It was probably just stress, fear and tiredness. And, if he died, I could not work on the Water of Life and create this new potion I have been researching for years…"

Her thoughts went back to the samurai. She sighed.

"Knowing him, he must already be looking for a logical explanation as to why he came back to himself immediately after drinking my blood."

She decided to go get changed, and then to go see Sannan. The sooner he would have his rational explanation, the better.

She walked a few steps before sighing again.

"Deep down… We are a lot alike."

The night seemed much colder and humid than normal. It was not this usual chilling air that she appreciated so much, but a cold that she felt to the bones. This reminded her of some night in the West. She crossed her arms to retain some heat. She ran into Harada on her way back to Sannan's quarters.

"Yûna-chan! How are you? We were all so worried for you!"

This was the least he could say. He almost knocked Heisuke out when he suggested to let Sannan take care of her.

"Thanks, Sano. I'm fine."

She resumed walking but Harada grabbed her intact arm.

"Yûna, I won't let you like this! You are covered in blood. You need to go to the infirmary."

She gently removed his hand from her arm, and looked in the eyes of the red-haired giant.

"Please don't be as protective as Hijikata. I am fine. Just like Chizuru, please let me attend to my own wounds."

"Well, it's a guy's job to care for a lady".

She frowned.

"Well, at least let me get you some bandages and a clean set of clothes."

She sighed.

"Alright. Let's go".

She looked at him walking in the direction of the infirmary. She smiled. Despite his impulsive nature, he was very kind, and rather amusing. She reached her bedroom and sat on her futon while waiting for him. As soon as Sano brought everything she needed in her quarters, she thanked him and told him she needed some rest. She changed as fast as possible after he left, and stepped out of the room.

"Yamazaki, no need to hide, I know you are here. I am going to see Sannan".

She did not receive an answer but knew that the ninja had heard her words. She inspected her bandage while walking. Sanosuke had really paid attention to her in the past few weeks.

* * *

"Why did I regain consciousness after drinking her blood?"

Sitting at his desk, opposite a calligraphy depicting the components of the human brain, Sannan was confused. Normally, drinking human blood was not enough for him to regain consciousness immediately. However, Yûna's blood tasted completely different. It was sweeter, stronger, and it was even more addictive than other humans' blood. It seemed that his strength had strongly increased after drinking it. Even one hour after drinking it, he still felt abnormally strong, even though he had resumed his human form.

He was worried about Yûna. Kondou had ordered him to remain in his quarters until he received new instructions. The leader of the Shinsengumi had promised that he would send Sanosuke to find her. Sannan found himself envious of Harada. Sanosuke was human, he could fight for the Shinsengumi in the daylight. He was but a monster destined to hide in the shadows – and this was probably how Yûna was seeing him now. She had discovered this part of darkness that had grown inside of him since he injured his arm. Maybe it was better for her after all. Yes, she should go away from him. This way she would never have to hurt herself for him ever again. Out of duty, he would keep working alone on the Ochimizu and the rasetsus so that this incident would never happen again. That is, if he was allowed to.

He heard a small knock on the door. He did not answer.

"Sannan-san… If this does not bother you, I would like to speak to you for a few minutes."

Was this Yûna's voice? He looked at the door and did not move. Kneeling on the other side, Yûna did not dar.e moving the panel of wood and paper. She did not know how Sannan was feeling and she did not want to annoy him. She could not find the right words, the ones she would have liked to tell him to make him understand that she did not hold a grudge against him, that she did not find him repulsive. She placed one of her hands on the panel without moving. She would have liked to put her hand on Sannan's arm the same way, without needing to say a word. They had known each other for more than a year, why was it still so difficult to speak to him?

On the other side, Sannan stood up. His feelings started to lean towards anger. Had she come to him out of pity?

"Yûna, go home. Pity is the last thing that I need."

Yûna removed her hand from the door just like if she had burnt her. She stood up too.

She exclaimed:

"Pity?"

She threw opened the door and closed it behind her.

"This is not pity Sannan!"

"So why are you here?" Sannan was inveighing against her behavior. "What can you feel towards me? I became an inhumane creature. I drink human blood to survive, I can lose my mind in a second. Why are you so hard-headed, why do you keep working on Ochimizu? Do you want to improve it out of pity for those like us, to diminish our suffering?"

She had never seen Sannan so upset. She closed the door behind her, walked to him, and despite him being taller than her, she looked at him directly in his eyes. She said softly:

"No, Sannan. This is not why I came back".

She took the rasetsu's left hand, the one that had been hurt a long time ago, between hers. Sannan felt a strong wind entering the room, making papers fly around them. The lights from the candles changed colours; Yûna's eyes became electric blue, her hair turned white, and two little horns grew on her forehead.

Sannan's eyes widened – how had he not understood earlier?"

His hand still between hers, wind flowing in her air, Yûna whispered:

"This is the reason why you came back to us so fast, and why you became so strong, Sannan. If you think that I feel pity for you, you are wrong. I am just as inhumane as you are."

The wind stopped, and Yûna returned to her usual appearance. It seemed to her that Sannan gently squeezed her hand between his. After a long silence, she whispered:

"By the way… Sorry for the kick in the chest."

Sannan smiled.

"You are an intriguing person, Yûna-kun."

He took her hands in his, and gently moved closer to her. Yûna's heart skipped a beat. She froze. He placed a finger under her chin.

This moment was interrupted by exclamations coming from the outside.

"Sannan-san!", Shinpachi said, "Kondou wants everyone to meet with him. A so-called Princess Osen-chan wants to meet Chizuru and the Shinsengumi's commanders and captains."

Sannan looked slowly in the direction of the door, his eyes then turning back to Yûna.

"I'll be right there".

He let go of the Oni's hands.

Once he reached the door, he turned around, bowed respectfully and started walking quickly.

Yûna sat down on a pillow. What had just happened? Was he really holding her hands? Was he about to kiss her? This was so unlike his usual behavior. He was probably just under the shock of his transformation. This was the only rational explanation possible. She decided to do some more research for the night.


	9. Shadows of Death

**Dear readers,**

 **I hope that you will enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I have tried to improve the pace of the story, so hopefully it will be more agreeable to read. Please let me know what you think!**

* * *

There was no moon in the sky – only some stars and candles were breaking free from the darkness. The temple was completely silent, as if the walls themselves were waiting for something. The entire place was waiting for something to happen.

Two gun shots in the dark. Two guards fell on the ground.

The doors were cast opened, and three men entered the main courtyard. They were the same men that Yûna had almost ran into when leaving the Shimabara: the arrogant Shiranui Kyo, carrying a gun, dressed in black; Kyuujyu Amagiri, tall with red hair, wearing a long white and black coat; and finally, following behind them, a third man. His name was Kazama Chikage.

"Look how weak they are!", said Shiranui in an ironic voice. He pointed at them with his finger. "It was almost to easy to be entertaining."

They reached the center of the main courtyard. All of a sudden, they heard a noise behind them. They turned around, and saw the men shot by Shiranui stood up. Their hair was turning white. The three men exchanged surprised looks; they did not expect this turn of events. Who were these creatures? Were they…

Their thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind them. The secretary-general had also turned into a rasetsu.

"We were expecting you", Sannan said. "The rasetsu unit will take care of you, demons. Attack!"

The rasetsus attacked the three men while Sannan remained behind, watching and analyzing the scene. There three Onis, who had gotten over their surprise, counter-attacked. They were surrounded, but they were strong, clever and fast enough to avoid their dangerous weapons. The rasetsus' eyes were bloodshot. It did not take long for Kazama Chikage to realize that he could easily defeat rasetsus by stabbing their hearts. He killed them one after the other. It was a massacre.

"Those demons are truly strong…", Sannan whispered, drawing his weapon.

He chose to attack Amagiri. The giant was strong, but he thought that he could defeat him.

Hijikata, Shinpachi and Harada arrived, running. Harada started facing Shiranui, while Shinpachi attacked Amagiri. Hijikata ran towards Kazama, who was heading in the direction of Chizuru's bedroom.

Despite fighting two opponents at the same time, Amagiri quickly defeated Shinpachi, and doubled his attacks on Sannan, who was stepping back towards a wall.

From the top of one of the roofs, Yûna was watching the scene. She had asked Sannan not to take part in the operation unless it was absolutely necessary. She had mentioned how tired she was. As this was a poor excuse, she expected him to refuse, seeing her decision as betrayal or treason, and was surprised when he accepted. Maybe he had guessed that she had other reasons to delay fighting.

She watched Kazama Chikage walk towards Chizuru's quarters, followed by Hijikata Toshizo.

Kazama Chikage… Their paths had crossed once, a long time ago. If he saw her tonight, he might jeopardize all the work she had done in the previous years.

She turned her attention back to the fight between Amagiri and Sannan. Even though Amagiri was only using his fists, he was strong enough to kill his opponent if he wanted to. She saw his fists hitting the samurai multiple times, and with each hit her heart got tighter. Such a sight sent shivers down her spine. However, she noticed a certain distaste for combat in Amagiri's eyes, as if this was an unpleasant task he wished he did not have to do…

Yûna hear two gun shots. Shiranui had just shot Sano in his right shoulder and in his side. Harada could not keep fighting. She shuddered.

"Sano, no… Not you…"

She watched him rising slowly, and falling back down. Shiranui laughed, and then turned his attention to Sannan, who found himself alone, facing two Onis. The secretary-general barely avoided a gun shot. A burning lava fueled by remorse, pain and bitterness started consuming Yûna from inside. Taking its source in her heart, she felt it pouring in her stomach, her lungs, and in all of her organs. She did not realize that she was shaking.

She heard two pieces of metal clashing together. She turned around and saw Hijikata facing Kazama Chikage. They were fighting with remarkable violence. Chizuru laid unconscious at the bottom of a statue.

"Chizuru, why haven't you used your powers?"

Yûna did not understand. Chizuru knew she had powers. Why she did not use them was beyond her understanding.

"Yûna, what are you doing…", she said to herself.

They were three Onis against two rasetsus. They had no chance. Sannan and Hijikata would fight to death if necessary, and she knew it. The Shinsengumi had given her a chance, although they did not really need her. And there she was, she could help them, and yet she was only standing on a roof, making her promise more important than helping them. She was filled with shame.

Sannan managed to push back both of his opponents with his katana and ran towards Kazama to help Hijikata.

Yûna had the horrible feeling of living a scene that had destroyed her years ago, and whose memory kept haunting her every day and every night. She saw the phantoms of her past fighting in front of her eyes, merging with the silhouettes of the men fighting in front of her. All the hatred, fear and pain that had pushed her towards one goal for all these years made her stand up.

She jumped from the roof. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she turned into a demon. She felt as if the burning liquid of hatred inside of her heart was going to spark a fire all around her.

She raised her head and look at her long time enemy, Kazama Chikage.

The Oni froze.

"You… you are still alive?"

Yûna's expressions were completely changed by the hatred and disdain in her eyes. Years of a strong desire for revenge were growing inside of her. She yelled.

"Kazama Chikage. I will show no mercy. Leave this place, now!"

The Oni smiled.

"Do you still believe that you can defeat me? What were you thinking? You are unable to kill me and you know it. I am much stronger than you."

"We shall see. You will pay for everything that you've done."

He laughed.

"And it is for these… pale copies of demons that you intend to sacrifice yourself? Or were you trying to forge an alliance with them to defeat me?"

Yûna pounced on him with all her strength. Sannan, Hijikata and the two Onis stopped fighting. Kazama dodged all of the attacks of her naginata without even using his katana, as if he was trying to provoke her, and provoke all the members of the Shinsengumi.

"Draw your weapon Kazama!"

"There's no need for it. I do not need a weapon."

He disarmed her and twisted her right arm behind her back. He whispered in her ear.

"You see, Yuna… You cannot defeat me."

Yûna closed her eyes. Kazama's widened.

"How…"

He let her arm go and brought his hand to his chest. Yûna jumped away from him. She had stabbed him in the chest from behind with her left hand, barely missing his heart. She stepped back and took her naginata off the floor, catching her breath.

His hand full of blood, Kazama raised his eyes and stared at his opponent. He gave her a threatening look, and slowly drew his weapon.

"You will pay for this affront."

His chest still bleeding, he pounced on her, trying to split her skull with his weapon, but she blocked his attack. She stepped back from the shock, then counter-attacked. Kazama was too fast, too powerful for her to defeat him – her nights of work were playing against her. She was exhausted. The hits were showering down on her, and they were becoming increasingly difficult to block. He cut her in the shoulder and in the thigh, but she did not stop fighting. She could not feel the pain – her hatred was too strong.

Amagiri interrupted the fight.

"Kazama, we came for Chizuru, not for her!"

Kazama ignored him. He would deal with Chizuru later. He broke Yûna's spear with his katana. She watched him walk towards her, his blade pointed in her direction.

"So this is how I die…"

She suddenly felt at peace with the world around her.

"Yes, it is better this way.", she thought to herself.

"No!"

Sannan jumped between Kazama and her.

"Sannan please, don't!", she begged him, grabbing his shoulders from behind. "It is better this way, trust me".

"Kazama Chikage", he said, "this woman is exhausted and cannot fight at the moment. She has already been wounded in the arm yesterday. You are a clan chief, and you have to respect the samurai code of honor. Whatever may be your reasons to fight, it is dishonoring to fight a woman in these conditions."

"Who are you, rasetsu, to tell me what I should and should not do? I should kill you right away. It will only make her death more interesting."

"I am Sannan Keisuke, secretary-general of the Shinsengumi. I am the one who developed the Water of Life, and who created the Rasetsu unit. As long as I live, you will not touch this woman."

"Kazama, this is over. If you kill them, we will get in trouble with the Satsuma clan, and we still have not finished paying our debt towards them", Amagiri said, taking Kazama's arm. "You can resume this fight later. I cannot bring you my support for what you are doing."

Kazama seemed to hesitate. He looked at Amagiri, then Sannan and Yûna. After a long silence, he sheathed his weapon and disappeared without a word.

Amagiri bowed to the three Shinsengumi members, and left the temple via the main entrance, followed closely by Shiranui.

Chizuru and Shinpachi came back to their senses. The wounded were transported to the infirmary.

Sannan turned towards Yûna. She was not able to face him. She started walking towards Hijikata to enquire about Sanosuke, but her leg was too badly injured. She fell, but Sannan caught her before she touched the ground.

Holding her in his arms and helping her to sit, he looked at her shoulder and leg. He asked:

"Yûna, are you feeling alright?"

She looked up and met his gaze.

"Sannan… I am… I am so sorry…"

"Don't worry. You need to rest".

He caught the look of gratefulness in her eyes. This was so unlike him or his culture, but he felt that it was his duty. He whispered in her ear:

"And if you ever need to talk about what happened or what happened between Kazama and you, I would be glad to be there to listen. But you do not have to".

Yûna smiled faintly. But then everything turned black.

* * *

Yûna had a strange dream. She was floating amidst an endless dark corridor. There was no floor, no ceiling. She did not even know if there was even such a thing as a concept of top and bottom in this world. All of a sudden, she was attacked by shapeless creatures, that were only masses of colors and sounds. Yûna tried to fight back, but the creatures were stronger. She tried to scream, but all her muscles were paralyzed, and no sound could come out of her mouth. She lost all control over her body and her mind. She was filled by an intense cold. Then she started falling, falling… Falling endlessly into the tunnel.

A small, appeasing blue and green light, appeared at the end of the tunnel. She was not suffering anymore. Lost in the light, she saw sakura petals falling, mixed with snowflakes. She was swimming in the immensity of this ocean of colors. She felt that someone was catching her. She felt safe, appeased by the regular movement of his or her breathing, and she leaned her head against the person's shoulder. She could not see any face, just feel the person's warmth. The fabric of the clothes smelled good, as if it was some kind of reassuring and familiar fragrance. Yûna felt at home. She had not felt at home for years.

* * *

She woke up at the infirmary, where Sannan had carried her. She saw Yamazaki wrapping a bandage around her arm, under Sannan and Kondou's worried looks. She guessed that Hijikata was probably taking care of Chizuru. On the bed next to her Sanosuke laid unconscious – he was still suffering from the gunshots he had received. From his labored breathing, she feared that he was suffering from a serious injury.

Kondou spoke first, trying to hide his worry behind his warm tone of voice.

"There you are, Yûna-kun! You made us worried."

Seeing Yûna's concerned expression, he quickly added:

"But don't worry, everything is fine. Yamazaki promised me that Sano-kun would quickly heal from his wounds, and Shinpachi feels better too."

"Sannan-san, Kondou-san, I am truly sorry…", she whispered in a hoarse whisper.

"Ah, don't feel sorry You fought very well! You impressed all of us", Kondou said as joyfully as he could.

Sannan nodded at these words. Yûna was hearing bells and insect buzzes in her head. She had received violent shocks during the fight.

"Well, I will leave the two of you together, this way you can… decide when you will get back to work!", Kondou added. He stood up. "Rest well, Yûna-chan!"

Kondou left the room. Sannan smiled and sat on the side of Yûna's futon.

"Kondou has always had a talent to cheer up his troups."

The Oni bit her lip. She did not know what to say. Sannan saw her uneasiness.

"Do not worry. I understand better why you did not want to fight them. I don't need to know the whole story. But now that I know that Kazama Chikage is your enemy, it is my turn to be of some help."

"Sannan, you have saved my life. It is I who is indebted towards you."

"I owe you more than you think, Yûna-chan."

He helped her to sit so that she could drink some water. Yûna smiled. It felt so good to be able to drink some water! Her body aching, she lied back down. She was wondering why Sannan had become so different, why he had warmed up to her so much. The rasetsu readjusted his glasses on his. Just before she dozed back to sleep, the young woman wondered what he looked like without them.

* * *

"So, she is still alive…"

Back in his castle, Kazama was watching through the window, ignoring Amagiri's attempts to reason with him.

"Kazama, you cannot scatter your actions this way. You cannot try to kidnap Chizuru while trying to kill Yuna de Clouseaules. We are intervening in human's affairs too much, and these two demons are putting us as risk to get even more involved."

"If Yuna, or Yûna as she calls herself here, really joined the Shinsengumi, it is going to be much more difficult to abduct Chizuru. She needs to die."

"You are letting hatred blind you, Kazama".

"I do not hate her. She crossed me once, and she did not learn her lesson a first time, despite the price that she and Charles of Clouseaules have paid. Today she is truing to prevent me from accomplishing my duty as clan chief and from marrying Chizuru. I cannot let her alive."

Amagiri sighed.

"Whatever you do, Kazama, do not forget that although you were able to defeat her more than once, she may very well be able to defeat you one day. So make sure that on that day, she will want to be merciful and spare your life."

Chikage did not answer.

"Are you listening to me?"

Amagiri sighed – Kazama would not answer.

The red-haired warrior left the room.

* * *

The sun had risen for a long time, but Sannan could still not fall asleep. The samurai had rarely been alone in his laboratory since Yûna's arrival at the Shinsengumi. Since her arrival in his life, actually. He looked at the notes that the young woman had taken. She knew how to write Japanese, but she had never had an occasion to learn how to use a calligraphy brush. He admired the regularity of her handwriting: he could see a true sensibility in her way of tracing the characters. He could see in the pages everything that Yûna was: a complex, determined, studious, dedicated, cautious and patient being at a crossroad between two civilizations. And just like him, she had a part of darkness in her heart.

Despite normally enjoying the solitary world of research, he was slowly realizing how much Yûna's presence made his work agreeable, even though they could be silent for hours, completely absorbed in their tasks. Never had she complained about her work, nor shown any disdain towards rasetsus. He enjoyed waiting for her when she left to look for ingredients in the night. When she came back after finding what she had been looking for, he could see a real, sincere smile on her face, and it was as if the sun had entered the room. If she sometimes succeeded in obtaining a rare ingredient on the illegal market, she would rejoice in narrating him the details of her expedition, and he could see how much she enjoyed being useful.

He had watched her train twice. She was agile and flexible. Men rarely defeated her. Only Hijikata and Saito managed to cause her some difficulty. And sometimes Sanosuke as well. The secretary-general would have liked to challenge her to a sword duel sometimes.

He placed his long and slender fingers on the papers and touched the characters traced in ink. He had noticed how much she liked the floral tea that he had poured her the first time she came to see him the first time, and since then he had served her the exact same tea each time. Yûna did not know that, but he had taken the habit to watch her out of the corner of his eye when she drank her tea, her eyes closed to enjoy her beverage, the corners of her lips raising slightly and turning into a beautiful smile. He had also asked Chizuru to replace the green tea served to the group during the daily tea ceremony by Yûna's tea every time she joined them. It was Sannan's way to remain close to her even though he was not allowed to join the other Shinsengumi members during the day time. Imagining the Oni smile while drinking her tea was one of the rare pleasures of his new life.

Only Souji had noticed the change of tea – he had also guessed its origin, but he had chosen to remain silent.

Sannan's gaze saddened halfway across his reading of the young woman's notes, thinking about what he had felt when Kazama was getting ready to put her to death. Yûna was calm, peaceful, waiting for death to come to her. She had accepted her fate. She must have suffered a lot in her past to see death as a relief.

Understanding the depth of her suffering was a torture that he could not endure. He had felt an abyss opening beneath his feet. He could not lose her, see her murdered by the weapon of this man. He, the man who calculated everything, could not prevent himself from acting impulsively around her, at the risk of losing his own life. He wanted to see her live, blossom, laugh, and be happy.

He put the notes back on the tables when he knew exactly what he was feeling. He wanted her to be happy. Even if it was with another man.


End file.
